John Dunsworth

Unless you're familiar with the Canadian television show The Trailer Park Boys, you've probably never heard of the talented actor, John Dunsworth.

Based on the character, Mr Lahey, that Dunsworth plays on that show is enough to throw this actor in among the best. There have been actors that have portrayed convincing drunks before, but never to the level of comedy that John Dunsworth brings to the character.

He's not just a one note actor, either. Whether it be a comedy or drama and no matter how large or small the part is, John Dunsworth delivers a three dimensional character full of creative detail every time, all the time.

Unlike many actors, John Dunsworth is also very approachable. Whether you find him on Facebook or happen to run into him on the street, he's usually more than happy to talk with a fan or two about his craft or his characters. In fact, his stories of the past and his views on his profession give one an insight into his passion and love of the work he does.

ADDENDUM

On October 16, 2017, John Dunsworth passed away after a brief unexpected illness. He was a very talented actor who had fans all over Canada and the United States. He will be missed, but his work will carry on.

Jerry Houser

Jerry Houser makes his living these days as a voice-over artist, but in the early 1970's it looked like he was well on his way to becoming a well-known actor. As the best friend Oscy in the successful Summer of '42 and it's follow up Class of '44, Jerry Houser's face became instantly recognizable, if not his name.

Movies in the 1970's were not made for teenagers. Even though the humor in those films came from the things teenage boys said and did, the movies back then, even the coming-of-age ones, were made for adults. They were smart and not full of gross-out gags like today's films.

Had Jerry Houser been born ten years later, I believe that he might have become more well known and he would have fit nicely into movies like Porky's or American Pie. However, those types of comedies weren't being made in the early 1970's making Houser an actor ahead of his time. And even though he had a nice supporting role in the Paul Newman hockey film, Slap Shot, I'm not convinced that Hollywood knew what to do with his talents at the time.

Due to the popularity of Summer of '42, I would always spot him when he would guest star on the numerous television shows of his generation. And found it quite funny when his character ended up married to Marcia Brady in the Brady Girls Get Married television special.

I always enjoyed the work of Jerry Houser and was pleasantly surprised whenever he would pop up on television or in a bit part in a film. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will do it again some day.

James Best

James Best is famous for all of the wrong reasons. The world knows him as the goofy Sheriff Rosco Coltrane on the 1980's hit television show, The Dukes of Hazard. However, the world does not know him as the great actor he once was.

In his youth, James Best made memorable guest appearances on some of the top television shows of the time. However, he did more than just appear on show after show. He stood out.

With numerous appearances on Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show and Have Gun Will Travel just to name a few, James Best proved time after time that he had star quality in all of his guest starring roles.

Many of these old shows are available on DVD and I urge you to seek out the episodes that feature James Best. You will find that he had leading man looks, great character instincts and a talent that should have made him famous.

Lili Taylor

In the world of small and independent films, Lili Taylor is well known, but for mainstream audiences, although they've seen some of her work, she's a bit of a chameleon who manages to disappear so realistically into each role she plays that many times people don't even realize they are watching an actor.

One of the reasons behind this is because she looks just like us. She is the opposite of the typical Hollywood actress and although she can be glamorous, it's the plain and quirky characters audiences seem to relate to the most. And no one does this better than Lili Taylor.

She's one of those actors whose performance stays with you because she makes you understand her character so well that we think we know them. Watch Mystic Pizza and tell me you don't know that girl.

From Girls Town to Household Saints, and from Dogfight to I Shot Andy Warhol, Lilly Taylor embodies what good acting is all about. She becomes the role. We never see the actor, only the results of her wonderful work.

Candice Rialson

Candice Rialson is probably best known as the girl with the singing vagina in the 1977 drive-in sex comedy, Chatterbox. Before that came staring roles in equally trashy but fun movies like Candy Stripe Nurses, Summer School Teachers, Pets. and her greatest film, Hollywood Boulevard.

And it's because of those films would be my guess as to why the Hollywood mainstream never really embraced her. That's a real shame because she had talent and screen presence to be loved by more than just seventeen-year-old boys.

She did manage to land some smaller roles in a couple of bigger films like Clint Eastwood's The Eiger Sanction, but never seemed to be able to shake her b-movie roots.

Sadly, Candice Rialson passed away of liver disease in 2006 at the young age of 54, robbing the world forever of a potential comeback.

Tom O'Rourke

Tom O'Rourke was a charismatic actor whose face was probably more recognizable than his name. Although he appeared in several films and guest starred in many different television shows, his biggest claim to fame was probably in the role of Justin Marler on the soap opera, The Guiding Light. That's where his talents first etched their way into my mind.

He played the good guy, which on a soap opera can often be forgettable, but he was far from that as he brought depth, passion and humanity to the part that lesser actors would not have been able to do. In fact he brought those qualities to every role he played.

I consider Tom O'Rourke to have been a real working actor, as his roles weren't always large or glamorous. And yet no matter how small the role, he always managed to stand out in a scene.

Tom O'Rourke passed away in 2009, so we will not be able to stumble upon any new performances as we flip through the TV channels. But we can thank God for reruns as I still quite often catch some of his past work on television.

He is survived by his wife, Marcy, who keeps a blog about her memories of him called Thomas O'Rourke An Actor's Life, and it really gives a great insight to the life of a working actor. Here is a link.

http://thomasorourkeactor.blogspot.com/

Brad Dourif

In 1975 when Brad Dourif was nominated for best supporting actor for his work in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it appeared that his career was off and running. However, what followed were a couple of made for television movies and some low profile films which appeared to have knocked the upcoming actor off the radar.

What the public has failed to realize, though, is that Brad Dourif has been doing Oscar caliber work his entire career. Many of these wonderful performances are in films most people have never heard of. Check out the movie Wise Blood to start with, then go through his list of credits and seek out his work. You'll be in for a quite a surprise.

He still pops up now and then in the occasional Hollywood A-list film, but is more likely to be seen in the recent low-budget horror movie or as a guest star on some television program. Whatever screen he's on, you can count that his performance will take that movie or TV show to a higher level.

His on-screen intensity and dedication to the role he's playing, no matter what the budget of the film, makes him in my eyes a true actor and today's pick for Not Very Famous...but should be.

Diana Sands

Diana Sands was well on her way to becoming a star when she died in 1973 at the age of 39 after losing her battle with a rare form of cancer. Being a black actress at a time when the roles offered were maids and street people, she was never stereotyped into playing  the traditional "black" role of the time.

Instead, her talents made others color blind as she often played characters that weren't written for a black actress. The color of her skin had nothing to do with many of the roles that she played, which in the 1960's was unheard of.

She could make bad writing sound good, as in the Outer Limits episode The Mice, which she manages to make an unwatchable episode worth ones time. And she could also make good writing even better as is evident in the Sidney Poitier film A Raisin in the Sun.

At the time of her death, she was set to play the title role in the movie Claudine opposite James Earl Jones. The role went to Diahann Carroll who would then be nominated for an Oscar.

Who knows what the future would have held for Diana Sands. She already had greatness, but the world had yet to discover that. Had she lived, I believe that they would have. 

Scott Wilson

Audiences may know Scott Wilson as Hershel, the elderly farmer / doctor in The Walking Dead, but this actor has been developing his craft long before some of those cast members were even born.

He had a small, but memorable role in his first film, In the Heat of the Night, but it was his second movie, In Cold Blood, that really made people notice his talents. As the heartless killer, Dick Hickok, Wilson's performance is as scary as any film villain in the history of motion pictures.

Fame never came to Scott Wilson, but acting work did. He's been seen on television and movies since 1967 and he stands out in everything he does. Half the time you don't even realize that you're watching the same actor.

Scott Wilson is truly one of the best actors the world has NEVER heard of. Check out his credits on IMDB and then watch some of his films. You'll be amazed at what you see. Sadly, he is no longer with us. If you are familiar with his work, you will realize what a huge loss this is.

Dick DeCoit

Dick DeCoit has been a working actor for most of his adult life. I must admit that I'm not familiar with a lot of his work, but the reason he's included in this blog is because of his portrayal of the rapist, Ron Becker, during the early years of The Young and the Restless. I was in high school at the time, this was in the 1970's, and his performance has stayed with me all these years. This makes me often wonder why one actor goes on to get the choice roles and another doesn't.

I still remember a year or so after he left the soap opera. I went and saw the movie, Logan's Run. I about jumped out of my seat when I saw Dick DeCoit on the screen. He was basically an extra as I seem to remember he had no lines and was only in one scene. And yet I spotted him. I have often wondered if he was in more of the movie and was left on the cutting room floor, or if the people involved in the casting just made a huge mistake in not giving him a larger role.

Anyway you look at it, a performance that can stay with a person most of his life says quite a bit about the actor. And it's not just me. When I find a person that has watched The Young and the Restless all of these years, I always ask if they remember the character of Ron Becker, and nine out of ten people do.